• Which is the best performance marketing network?
• Who do you love?
• What makes them great?

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Hydra Networks has announced that with immediate effect it has terminated the accounts of over 15,000 publishers. The news comes as part of a new push by Hydra to attract mainstream brand advertisers and set themselves apart from “ad networks peddling nutraceutical diet remedies, cash grant opportunities, tooth whiteners and other non-branded campaigns of low consumer value.”

As Facebook pushes to Win The Internet, its dazzling growth in usage is still to be reflected in profits, or even revenues. Accurate estimates of exactly what Facebook is bringing in are hard to come by but the best yet now comes from the Inside Facebook blog.

Twitter reasserted itself this week with the publication of two pieces of data designed to blow people's minds and a rumor that should send a little quiver of excitement up your leg (if you like that sort of thing).

ValueClick this week announced the divestiture of their lead-gen business unit, Web Clients. The stated reason is that ValueClick wants to stay focused on their online marketing services and technology businesses. That’s fair enough, but a look at the history of ValueClick and Web Clients raises questions in the minds of the curious.

With over 400 ad networks, segmentation has become a big part of successful performance marketing campaigns.

Katrina Toft loves sushi. So it’s only natural that the designer, a recent college graduate, started a blog about the Seattle sushi restaurants she haunts. Already, she’s making enough from BestSeattleSushi.com to feed her fish habit. Now, she’s working on a site for gamers.

Over the last five years, almost all of the topics I’ve written about focus on some aspect of performance-based advertising. My fascination with the subject stems from a desire to understand the role performance-based ads play in the broader ecosystem for advertisers, merchants and affiliates.

Top interactive agencies and affiliates share their tricks for picking the right ad network.

Conservatively estimated, there are upwards of 400 ad networks globally. There is a Japanese iPhone-only ad network and the recently launched Village Voice alternative weekly New York newspaper ad network – and everything in between. For ad agencies representing top brands, and for affiliates trying to make a living in the increasingly competitive world of performance marketing, picking the right one is critical to survival. Choosing poorly spells disaster for everyone.

As we all know, the performance marketing industry is growing rapidly. Due to economic conditions, more marketers are moving online and more online marketers are using the pay-for-results model to deliver the results they seek. Add to the mix the rapid pace of technological innovation and the desire for more brands and agencies to sink their teeth into our industry and it’s easy to see we are at a major inflection point for performance marketing. In order to seize the opportunity, we have to take a step back and examine the role that trust and integrity play in our future success.

Since the days of the gladiators, sports fans have had an irrational bond with their favorite athletes and teams. Feats of athleticism evoke eruptions of euphoria or a tidal wave of tears as a game's final play unfolds.These strong emotions create an indelible brand loyalty that remains long after the season ends.